• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.99-106
• /
• 2009

The contents of transuranic elements ($^{237}Np$, $^{238}Pu$, $^{239}Pu$, $^{240}Pu$, $^{241}Am$, $^{244}Cm$, and $^{242}Cm$) in high-burnup spent fuel samples ($35.6{\sim}53.9\;GWd/MtU$) were determined by alpha spectrometry. Anion exchange chromatography and diethylhexyl phosphoric acid extraction chromatography were applied for the separation of these elements from the uranium matrix. The measured values of the nuclides were compared with ORIGEN-2 calculations. For plutonium, the measurements were higher than the calculations by about $2.6{\sim}32.7%$ on average according to each isotope, and those for americium and curium were also higher by about $35.9{\sim}63.1%$. However, for $^{237}Np$, the measurements were lower by about 52% on average for the samples.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.5
• /
• pp.1569-1579
• /
• 2021

This study aims to provide microstructural characterization for the matrix graphite which molten salt reactors (MSRs) use, and improve resistance to molten salt infiltration of the matrix graphite for fuel elements. Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) densified matrix graphite A3-3 (MDG) was prepared by a quasi-isostatic pressure process. After densification by MCMBs with average particle sizes of 2, 10, and 16 ㎛, the pore diameter of A3-3 decreased from 924 nm to 484 nm, 532 nm, and 778 nm, respectively. Through scanning electron microscopy, the cross-section energy spectrum and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry, resistance levels of the matrix graphite to molten salt infiltration were analyzed. The results demonstrate that adding a certain proportion of MCMB powders can improve the anti-infiltration ability of A3-3. Meanwhile, the closer the particle size of MCMB is to the pore diameter of A3-3, the smaller the average pore diameter of MDG and the greater the densification. As a matrix graphite of fuel elements in MSR was involved, the thermal and mechanical properties of matrix graphite MDG were also studied. When densified by the MCMB matrix graphite, MDGs can meet the molten salt anti-infiltration requirements for MSR operation.

• Journal of the Korean Professional Engineers Association
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.45-50
• /
• 2000

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 1998.10a
• /
• pp.297-297
• /
• 1998

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.61 no.12
• /
• pp.1948-1952
• /
• 2012

The paper presents modal testing and analysis in order to obtain the dynamic characteristics of a middle spacer grids of a nuclear fuel rod. A spacer grid is one of the important structural elements supporting nuclear fuel rods. Such a fuel rod can be oscillated by its thermal expansion, neutron irradiation and etc. due to cooling water flow under the operation of a nuclear power plant. When the fuel rod vibrates, fretting wear due to repeated friction motion between the fuel rods and spacer grids can be occurred, and so the fuel rod is damaged. In this paper, through modal analysis and testing, natural frequencies and modes of a middle spacer grid were calculated, and the following conclusions were obtained. Firstly the numerical first-seven natural frequencies for spacer grids of a fuel rod having complicated structures have a small difference within 3.8% with experimental natural frequencies, and so the suitability of simulation results was verified. Secondly, experimental mode shapes for a middle spacer grid of a nuclear fuel rod were verified by obtaining lower non-diagonal terms through MAC(Modal Assurance Criteria), and were confirmed by the simulation modes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.375-385
• /
• 2001

The total burnup in the spent U$_3$Si/Al fuel samples from Hanaro reactor was determined by destructive methods using $^{148}$ Nd, the sum of $^{143}$ Nd and $^{144}$ Nd, the sum of $^{145}$ Nd and $^{146}$ Nd, and the sum of total Nd isotopes($^{143}$ Nd, $^{144}$ Nd, $^{145}$ Nd, $^{146}$ Nd, $^{148}$ Nd and $^{150}$ Nd) monitors. The fractional($^{235}$ U) turnup in the spent fuel samples was also determined by U and Pu mass spectrometric method. The samples were dissolved in a mixture of 4 M HCI and 10 M HNO$_3$ without any catalyst. The separation of U, Pu and Nd from the spiked and unspiked sample solutions was achieved by two sequential anion exchange separation methods. The isotope compositions of these elements, after their separation from the fuel samples were measured by mass spectrometry. The contents of the elements in the spent fuel samples were determined by isotope dilution mass spectrometric method(IDMS) using $^{233}$ U, $^{242}$ Pu and $^{150}$ Nd as spikes. The effective fission yield was calculated from the weighted fission yields averaged over the irradiation period. The difference between total turnup values determined by various Nd monitors were in the range of 1.8%.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.347-353
• /
• 2019

The composition of the reduced fuel produced in the electrolytic reduction process of pyroprocessing affects the concentration change of $UCl_3$, an important operating variable of the electrorefining process. In this study, we examined the concentration change of $UCl_3$ in the electrorefiner according to the content of TRU and RE elements in the reduced fuel and the concentration of $Li_2O$ introduced in the electrorefiner accompanied with the reduced fuel. Considering only the TRU and RE elements, the concentration of $UCl_3$ decreased with increasing the number of electrorefining operation batch. In order to operate one campaign (20 batches) of electrorefining process, it was found that additional injection of $UCl_3$ should be conducted more than 3 times. On the other hand, the concentration of $UCl_3$ in the electrorefiner changed significantly depending on the concentration of $Li_2O$ and, accordingly the number of operable electrorefining batches decreased rapidly, showing that the concentration of $Li_2O$ is an important operating variable in electrorefining. Therefore, the results of this study show that to maintain the concentration of $UCl_3$ in the electrorefiner, the operation mode should be set by taking into account the effect of $Li_2O$ as well as the TRU and RE elements contained in the reduced fuel.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.56 no.10
• /
• pp.4062-4067
• /
• 2024

In this article, we propose and explore a novel step in the digitization of the mapping of the spent fuel pool of nuclear power plants, in which the audio signal from the operator's microphone is used to obtain the identification codes of those components that are in each of the cells of the pool. In this way, we have not only an acquisition system but also a verification system that can be used in combination with the outcome of the analysis of the video signal. We developed an algorithm that uses at its core one of the latest models of multilingual Automatic Speech Recognition to transcribe audio signal, and with a post-processing of the timed transcriptions we build the identification code of fuel heads and other components. Results show a very high accuracy in audios from real recording of Spanish nuclear facilities, and the methodology proposed is easily extensible to other nuclear facilities in the world.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.643-647
• /
• 2014

Two types of fuel supply method ar used in CNG vehicles. One is premixed ignition and the other is gas-jet ignition. In premixed ignition, the fuel is introduced with intake air so that homogeneous air-fuel mixture may form. The ignitability of this method depends on the global equivalence ratio. In gas-jet ignition, CNG is introduced directly into the engine combustion chamber. The overall mixture is stratified by retarded fuel injection. In this study, a visualization technique was employed to obtain fundamental properties regarding overall mixture formation of direct injected CNG fuel inside a constant volume chamber. Jet angles, penetrations and projected jet area with respect to ambient pressure are investigated. The penetration decreases apparently and the time reaching the CVC wall was delayed as the chamber pressure increases. This is caused by the higher inertia of the fluid elements that the injected fluid must accelerate and push aside. It is same to liquid fuel such as diesel and gasoline, but this phenomenon is far more prominent for the gaseous fuel.

• Journal of ILASS-Korea
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.14-19
• /
• 2015

Recently, R&D demand for environmental friendly vehicle has rapidly increased due to its global environmental issues such as global warming, energy and economic crisis. Under this situation, the most realistic alternative way for environmental friendly vehicle is a clean diesel vehicle. The common-rail fuel injection system, as key technology of clean diesel vehicle, consists of a high pressure pump, common-rail, high pressure fuel line and electronic control injector. In common-rail high-pressure fuel injection system, high pressure wave of injection system and geometry of injector elements have a major effects on high-pressure fuel spray. Therefore, in this study, the numerical model was developed for analysis about the common-rail fuel pressure pulsation by using AMESim code. We could secure stability of common-rail high-pressure fuel injection system through optimal design of fuel line.